Collapsible egg crate



Feb. 23 1926.

* o. wlsl-:R ET AL GOLLAPSIBLE EGG CRATE Filed August 25 l 1924 3 .Sheets-Sheet l I f// 9.5. e l 94 l ll l ff g2 A l Qimmy Feb. 23,1926. 1,573,889

y Q. wlsER ET AL coLILAPsIBLE EGG CRATE Filed August 25, 1915.21 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 27 I9 l -;'.|..E..!:'

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j Feb. 23 1926.

- O. WISER ET AL GOLLAPSIBLE EGG CRATE f Filed August 25I '1924 s sheets-shet s gwtmfo Orion Wise, d

Kefnper. l

Patented Fels. V2.3, 1926. I'

'ma sr T If, .'11

- fraisage fconnnrsnnn EGG cnt-ATE.

ipp1icationg1g1nugust a5, 1924. yserial No'. 734,024.

T0 all lw'hom'z't may concern:

Be it known that We, Onion VVISER anc ARLIE KEMPER, ,citizens ofthe United States,

both residing at Martinsville, in the county of Clark and State of Illinois, vhave inl .vented certain new and useful improvements in Collapsible Egg Crates; and we do hereby declare the'fo-llowing to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art -to which it appertains to make and yuse the This invention rela-tes to improvements in collapsible egg crates of such construction that the Acrates when not' in use can -be folded'A into a compact shape. Various v4features of' A novelty and 4invention will appear from thev detailed vdescription taken in connection withv the accompanying drawings forming part'.

of the specification.

spective view showingthe cratefolded. i

Fig. 2 is a View in side elevation of the crate set up. n p

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the crate as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a transverse section through. the folded crate. v

Fig. 5 is a top plan View of one end of the crate.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one corner of the crate.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing one step in the method of setting up the crate from itsfoldedl position. v v

Fig. 8 is a View similar 1to Fig. 7 showing i another step inthe setting up `vof the crate.

Fig. 9 jshows the crate completely setup With' the coveropen; and 1 Fig. 10 is la .perspective View of the in# terior of the set up ,c-rate, showing the par# titions therein. Y

The improved crate is a rectangular-member 'having apan-like bottom struck up from sheet metal, the bottom proper being indicated by numeral 1, theside flanges thereof by 2 and 3,-and the end flanges -by 4. an 5, respectively. j

To the side yflange -2 -of the bottom is hinged a sidewall/6, the upper edge of thel wall being turned inwardly' to form a flange 7 for a purpose hereinafter-mentioned.

To the other, upright flange 3 ofthe bottom 1 is hinged a wall member 8 and to the upper edge of this wallbmernber is the top cover 9., the width of the samekeing p' somewhat less than the height ofthev wallLS as is clearly shown in Fig. Ll.

To the end flangeft y.of the bottom llis" hinged an end wall 10,` and to thel other flange 5 of thebottom is hinged the other', end wall 11, both of these end walls .having at their upper edge an inturned llangefinf" dicatedby numeral 12 as regards thene'nd:v Walll lOand 13 as regards thewal'l 1l, ,The side edges of the end walls 10and`f11. are? also provided-with inturnedllanges 11i and 15, respectively. f

. n Win be mad mathe @ad flanges@ and` 5 of the bottom 1 are` somewhat hiwherthan the side fiai'iges 2 and 3, thereof.A

y y Y inns dif; ference in height allows vthe side walls and4 f top cover to 'liein folded position,-whenthe` y vbox is collapsed, in such manner that .the end4 'Referring' to the drawings, Fig. 1 1s a pern walls 10 and llmay be disposed thereover' end walls l and thel bottom of the box are' made by Vforming loops in the materialf vthrough which are passed a rhinge pin memeV ber inthe forni vof ,a continuous'pieceof Y wire as indicated at'16.

' From the construction thus far descyibed it will be-seen that when the-box islcfollapsedl the side wall 8 will lie withfonevfafce disposed opposite the VbottomV ofthe bolXor l cra-tev and that the top membeiffwill'be; turned backfagainst the other side, or face 7 other side waljlG Ywillfbe disposed 'overft'he will rest on ,the sidewall asclearly show'n'rf` 'I in Figs. 1 and 4.

the end walls 10 and 11 "are connectedby a link mechanism and a locking-device 'nowto be described; Topthe end wall 10 is'rotatl ably Vsecured a shaft 17 having crankarms 18 fatgeachend, said shaft intermediate its ends being provided with a loopedportion 19 forming a handle by means of which the shaft may be rotated. Pivotally connectedto each crankrv18 of the shaft a coini para-tively short link 20 which,` in turn, -is pivotally connected as at 21 to a long lin-k 22 i whichat its other end is pivotally connect ed asiat 23 yto a short link 24C which, in turn,

is pivotally connected as at 25 to thesidejflange of the end wall 11. Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the crank 18 is arranged at an acute angle to the loop 19 of the shaft so that when the loop 19 is disposed flush against the end wall 10 the end walls 10 and 11 are positively locked in position. Vhen it is desired to collapse the box, the loop 19 is grasped to turn the shaft, thus allowing the end walls to vturn outwardly a limited extent, this amount being sufficient to allowthe box to be collapsed. By making the connection between the end walls 10 and-11 in the form of jointed links, said connection' will offer no interference to the collapsibility of the box, as will be readily I understood with reference to Fig. l.

-' means of the flanges 14 and 15 on the endv It has beenpointed out that the end walls 10 and 11 are provided with side flanges 1d and 15, respectively. These side Hanges constitute abutments against which the end edges of theside walls 6 and 8 abut when the box is in set up position. In other words, the said flanges 111 and-15 prevent the side walls ofthe box from moving outwardly. The side wall 6 when in upright position in addition to being held in such position by kwalls is also interlocked with the endwalls i byreason of the fact that a notch 26 cut out in the flange 18 at the top of the end wall 11, as. clearly indicated inFig. 6. ,A simie lar notch is provided in the other upper corner of the end wall 11 to interlock with the other sidewall 8. The other end wall 10 is provided with similar notches 26 for the same purpose. In view of the fact that the end rwalls 10 and 11 may be swung outwardly. somewhat when the clamping mechanism previously described is released, the

side and end `walls can be readily interlocked by the cooperating means specified.

Vhen the box is set up and closed, Vthe cover 9 will be overlain at its end edges by the flanges 13 at the top edges of the end walls 10 and 11, and the top flange 7v on the side wall 6 will overlie the adjacent edge of the., cover, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. In other` words, the edges of the'cover will be disposedbelow the inwardly extending flanges on the side and end walls. This arrange@ Vment elfectually prevents the cover from 'opening outwardly when the box it set up.

merely releasing the looking mechanism, which is accomplished by'turning the shaft 17 the parts will be sufIic-iently loosened to permit ythe cover 9 to be raised as by means i of a handle in the forml of a.' bail as indicated at 27 in Fig. 3.

lWhen the improved box or crate is in knocked down position, the parts may be retained in that positioned as by means of 5a hook 28 and cooperating eye 29 secured tot the end walls of the box, see Fig. 1. In case the box or crate is made heavy enough the same may be provided with lifting'` handles as indicated at 30. It will be under- This partition is held in upright" lugs 83 in the side walls 6,V and 8. WhenV they box is in knocked down position, the para tition will lie against the bottom of the crate as shown vin dottedl lines in Fig. in cross section 1n Fig. 4. f

In order tofrprevent the cover 9-fromm i dropping down, there maybe provided seatsr in the form of stamped out lugs Bel in .the end walls of the box (see Figs. 3 and6).

Figs. 7 to 10 are somewhat diagrammaticrepresentations illustrating the ymanner in which the box is set up.v i Referring to Fig. 7 ,it will be seen that the end walls 10 and 11 are first raised to upright position; then the side walll 6 is swung in upright yposition be-v tween the end walls. the side wall 8 is next swung into position,

Referring to' Fig. 8,

the top member 9 being first raised into the position shown in Fig. 8. v then swung into upright position as shown in Fig. 9. Thereafter, the partition 33 isi raised and swung into position between the side walls 6 and 8 as willnow be readily understood. Thereafter, the box is ready to be closed by turning the cover 9 on its hinges. After the box is set up, the clamping mech-` anism comprising the shaft member and The. wall 8 is links is closed as shown in Fig. 2. In order to! knock down the box, the reverse operations aregone through with. That is to say, the clamping mechanism is released thereby permittingk the ends of the box to be swung.v

outwardly somewhat, the coverl 9 is lifted) up and turned backy on its attached side wall,

after which the other side wall 6v is turned .l over on topof the cover 9, andY thereafter the end walls are folded down as shown in Fig. .1. The hook 28is disposed over the Vvarious moving parts as shown in Fig. 1.

1While the invention has been Adescribed with considerable particularityfof detail, it will be .understood that various changes can of the invention. n

What is claimedV is: e 1. In a knockdown box having its ends hinged to the bottom, means for v'drawing the ends toward each other comprising a crank lever mountedon one end of the box and Y leans connecting said crank lever with the other end of the box. l I

2. The structure specified in claim l in be made without departing from the spirit 1,573.889 v i I which the means connecting the crank lever with the end of the box comprises a plurality of links.

3. In a knock down box, the combination of a bottom member having flanges extending therearound, side and end walls pivoted to said flanges, one of said side walls having a top member1 hinged to its upper edge, the other side wall having an inwardly turned flange along its upper edge, said end walls each having inwardly turned side flanges and an inwardly turned top `iiange, said side fianges serving as abutments to prevent the side walls from moving outwardly away from the end walls,'and the top flanges on the end walls serving to confine the top member in position when the box is closed, and means for locking the box inV set up position.

4. In a knock down box, the combination of a bottom member, of side and end Walls hinged thereto, a top member hinged to one Aof the sidewalls, jointed links pivoted to one of said end walls and extending beyond ying therearound,4 the endV flanges being higher than the side flanges, end walls hinged to said end flanges, each end wall having an inwardly directed flangel along its top Aedg'eoand similarly directed flanges along its side edges, the top flange-being shorter than the width 1 of the endv wall whereby a notch. is formed at fthe corners, I side walls pivoted to the sidefflanges ofsaid bottom member, a top member pivoted to-l one of said side walls along the topledge of knocked down to be folded back on its side f wall, said side wall and top member adapted to be received between the. flanges extending around the bottom member,.and means for locking said box in setup position.

6. In a knock down box, the'conibination of a bottom-member, of side and end ywalls hinged thereto, means between the end and side walls for locking the side wallsagainst Y collapse, a crank shaft rotatably mounted on one of said end walls, and means extending between said crank shaft and theother end wall, said means permitting the end wall to swing outwardly ai limited extent.

7. In a knock down box, the combination of y a bottom member having side flanges extending therearound, end and side walls pivoted to said flanges, a cranked shaft rotatably mounted 'on one ofsaid endwalls, jointed members extending" between the 1 ends' of said-cranked shaft and the other end wall, ,7 y

` 0 tively long intermediate llink andA shorter"` said jointed ymeans comprising. a comparalinks at the ends thereof whichpconnect, re-

spectively, with said shaft and the other end l .walL

In testimony whereof we` affix our signatures. Y y

' ORION WISER.

ARLIE KEMPER. 

